Adaptive aero used on Bimota’s KB998 Rimini could be the next big thing in superbikes
With the advent of the new Bimota KB998 Rimini, superbikes could be seeing the dawn of an aerodynamics revolution – with the bike featuring winglets that “are able to automatically maintain the optimal angle at all times.”
In short, they’re moveable aerodynamic devices that can maximise downforce when it’s needed, for example under acceleration to prevent wheelies, or during braking to push the front wheel into the tarmac, but reduce it to slash drag when it’s not required, for instance when the bike is flat-out on straights.
The company remains tight-lipped about the precise details of the system but a brief description and a look at the bike itself reveals that the outer portion of the carbon-fibre front winglets, while small compared to many of their rivals, are mounted on a shaft that runs horizontally into the fixed, central section.
That means those outer portions, each with two wing elements, can be adjusted to alter their angle of attack.
“The wings are electronically adjustable; the rider cannot make any changes, but everything is automatic. They function for braking, for cornering, and for high speed,” Bimota Chief Operating Officer Pierluigi Marconi told MCN late last year during the 2024 EICMA trade show.
The intricacies of the system remain secret, for example whether the wings move independently on each side to give lopsided downforce during cornering is yet to be revealed.
In World Superbike off-season testing, the adaptive system doesn’t appear to have been tried yet but the bike’s immediate competitive performance is already making rivals nervous about its potential.
For 2025, it essentially replaces the works Kawasaki ZX-10RR machines in competition, using the same proven engines and multi-title-winning team, but with a more race-oriented chassis.
Moveable aerodynamics are expressly banned in all three MotoGP classes but remain legal in WSB on the condition that they’re also fitted to the road-going versions of homologated bikes.
The FIM’s technical regulations only say that the system used on race models can’t be modified from the road bike’s design, stating: “For active or dynamic aerodynamic parts only the standard homologated mechanism may be used. The range of movement must be the same as that used by the homologated road machine in normal use – not the mechanical maximum.”
In other words, if the road-going KB998 Rimini has moveable wings, the racer can use them as well, but if they’re going to be used to their maximum potential on track then the road version must also adopt the same strategy.